Swiss Party of Labour

The Swiss Party of Labour (German: Partei der Arbeit der Schweiz; French: Parti Suisse du Travail - Parti Ouvrier et Populaire; Italian: Partito Svizzero del Lavoro – Partito Operaio e Popolare; Romansh: Partida svizra da la lavur) is a communist party[2] in Switzerland. It is associated with the European United Left–Nordic Green Left group in the European Parliament, although Switzerland is not in the EU.

Swiss Party of Labour
German namePartei der Arbeit der Schweiz (PdA)
French nameParti Suisse du Travail - Parti Ouvrier et Populaire (PST-POP)
Italian namePartito Svizzero del Lavoro - Partito Operaio e Popolare (PdL-POP)
Romansh namePartida Svizra da la Lavur (PSL)
PresidentNorberto Crivelli
Members of the Federal CouncilNone
Founded14 October 1944
HeadquartersTurmweg 24
3013 Bern
Membership (2009)2,000[1]
IdeologyCommunism[2]
Marxism[3]
Socialism[2]
Political positionLeft-wing[4] to far-left[5][6]
European affiliationParty of the European Left
International affiliationInternational Communist Seminar[7]
Colours 
National Council
1 / 200
Council of States
0 / 46
Cantonal legislatures
13 / 2,559
Website
FR: www.pst.ch
DE: www.pda.ch
IT: www.pop-pdl.ch
Swiss Federal Council
Federal Chancellor
Federal Assembly
Council of States (members)
National Council (members)
Voting

History

The party was founded in 1944 by the illegal Communist Party of Switzerland. On May 21 the constituent conference of the Basel Federation of the party was held. On October 14–15 the same year the first Party Congress of the party was held in Zürich. Léon Nicole was elected President and Karl Hofmaier General Secretary. On October 6–7, 1945 the Second Congress was held in Geneva. By this time the party has 20 000 members. On November 30-December 1 the 3rd Congress in Zürich. On July 27 a Swiss Party Conference was held in Bern. Karl Hofmaier was removed from his position due to a financial scandal. In the national elections of 1947 the party received 5.1% of the vote.

Poster for the 2006 elections to the Grand Council of Bern.

On July 4–6, 1949, the 4th Congress was held. Steps to strengthen the organization as a Cadre Party are taken. Edgar Woog elected General Secretary. In 1950, the party works intensively for the Stockholm Appeal. 260 000 signatures are collected in Switzerland. On May 31-June 2, 1952, the 5th Congress is held in Geneva. On December 7 the Central Committee expels Léon Nicole from the party. On May 28–30, 6th Congress in Geneva.

On May 16–18, 1959, 7th Congress in Geneva. A new party programme approved with the concept of antimonopolistic unity, "Swiss Road to Socialism" (inspired by the similar programme of the Communist Party of Great Britain). On May 16–18, 1964, 8th Congress in Geneva. In 2015, the party has no seats in the Swiss cantonal councils, and was not represented in any of the 26 cantonal governments.[8] The Ticino section of the party, during an extraordinary congress held on 16 September 2007, by an overwhelming majority, decided to change its name to "Communist Party", thus resuming the original name and redirecting the policy of practice to one that was critical of the Party of European Left. This resulted in conflict with the national party headed by Norberto Crivelli, Socialist leader passed to the communists in the 80s.

Logo of the party in Italian version.

The XXII Congress of the section of the Ticino, held on 10 November 2013, marked the unification of the organs partisan Ticino with those of the Italian Grisons, creating the Communist Party of Southern Switzerland, which after 2014 has stopped the collaboration with the Swiss Party of Labour, becoming the Communist Party (Switzerland) which is not active on a national level.

2007 national elections

Holding two seats in the Swiss National Council (the lower or first chamber of the Swiss parliament) going into the 2007 elections, the party stood candidates in the cantons of Zürich, Vaud, Geneva and the Ticino on their own; in Neuchâtel the candidate appeared on a joint list with Solidarity. While the share of the vote in 2007 was similar to the party's 2003 results (0.7%), the party lost the seat held by Josef Zisyadis, while retaining the seat held by Marianne Huguenin.[9] However, on 1 November 2007 Huguenin announced her resignation from the National Council to focus on her position as mayor of Renens, Vaud, leaving Zisyadis to take the Party's seat in the National Council representing Vaud.[10]

Electoral performance

Election results
National Council (Nationalrat/Conseil National/Consiglio Nazionale/Cussegl Naziunal)
Election year # of
overall votes		 % of
overall vote		 # of
overall seats won		 +/–
1947 49,353 5.01
7 / 194
 —
1951 25,659 2.7
5 / 196
 2
1955 25,060 2.6
4 / 196
 1
1959 26,346 2.7
1 / 196
 3
1963 21,088 2.2
4 / 200
 1
1967 28,723 2.9
5 / 200
 1
1971 51,341 2.6
5 / 200
 0
1975 45,799 2.4
4 / 200
 1
1979 38,187 2.1
3 / 200
 1
1983 17,488 0.9
1 / 200
 2
1987 15,528 0.8
1 / 200
 0
1991 15,871 0.8
2 / 200
 1
1995 22,850 1.18
3 / 200
 1
1999 18,569 1.0
2 / 200
 1
2003 14,595 0.68
2 / 200
 0
2007 17,218 0.74
1 / 200
 1
2011 21,482 0.54
0 / 200
 1
2015 21,574 0.4
1 / 200
 1
2019 25,427 0.6
1 / 200
 0

Party strength over time
Canton1971197519791983198719911995199920032007201120152019
Percentage of the total vote for the PdA in federal elections, 1971–2019[11]
Switzerland2.62.42.10.90.80.81.21.00.70.70.50.40.6
Zürich1.61.11.20.30.3*a***0.20.20.20.3
Bern*0.60.3**0.2****0.30.50.6
Fribourg******0.9******
Solothurn**1.0*0.3********
Basel-Stadt6.14.64.72.31.91.41.3******
Basel-Landschaft*1.81.0**********
St. Gallen*0.4***********
Ticino2.83.62.7*1.20.71.31.3*1.31.20.50.8
Vaud12.210.79.34.13.54.28.97.86.74.72.12.9b1.9
Valais******0.9******
Neuchâtel13.79.87.74.23.85.27.16.93.09.210.412.212.1
Genève20.818.019.99.58.77.89.48.72.71.91.36.1b1.2
Juracb*********3.8*
1.^a * indicates that the party was not on the ballot in this canton.
2.^b Combined result for PdA and Solidarity.
3.^c Part of the Canton of Bern until 1979.

References
  2. Nordsieck, Wolfram (2019). "Switzerland". Parties and Elections in Europe. Retrieved 9 November 2019.
  3. "Statuten der Partei der Arbeit der Schweiz - Partei der Arbeit der Schweiz". pda.ch.
  4. Mots. Les langages du politique, n°80/mars 2006. ENS Editions. 2006. ISBN 9782847880953 – via Google Books.
  5. Church, Clive H. (24 January 2007). Switzerland and the European Union: A Close, Contradictory and Misunderstood Relationship. Routledge. ISBN 9781134194360 – via Google Books.
  6. "Weakened communists still flying the red flag".
  7. Archived June 22, 2013, at the Wayback Machine
  8. "BADAC - Le comparatif en ligne des cantons et des villes suisses". Badac.ch. Retrieved 2016-01-25.
  9. "Nationalrat 2007". Politik-stat.ch. Retrieved 2016-01-25.
  10. "Site de Marianne Huguenin - Je dois faire un choix. Et j'ai choisi Renens".
  11. Nationalratswahlen: Kantonale Parteistärke (Kanton = 100%) (Report). Swiss Federal Statistical Office. 29 November 2019. Retrieved 27 August 2020.
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